


The Spin-Off of Doom

by Magicawn



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-08-18 21:45:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8177140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magicawn/pseuds/Magicawn
Summary: Now that she's going to college, Lucilla finally convinced her father to let her live her own life. She's reunited with her friends, and studies what she want. But still not prepared for eventual love stories.





	1. Turning Page

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tinamour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinamour/gifts).



> Hello everyone ! This is my first fanfic on Da Vinci's Demons, first since a while, and first in English. Please note that English is not my mother language, and tell me if there is unforgivable mistakes. Lucilla, the main character, is one of my OCs I lend to Tinamour for her fanfic "The Modern AU of Doom". This is the story that comes before the chapter "Game night".... because Zo deserves more love !

    When he finally said yes, she couldn’t believe it.  
Her father wasn’t someone with trustful decisions. He changed his mind in the second he said something, and didn’t want her to go away from him.  
For days, Lucilla del Verrochio was packing and unpacking her stuff, making her room empty and full it again. It was clear enough, her father didn’t want to let her go. He was too protective towards his daughter.

Andrea called her when she was in her room, still gazing at her almost ready suitcase. Since the day she had to leave was near, she let it half-ready, to make it empty when she had to. And make it quick.

   
“Lucilla ! Go downstairs, I want a word !” he had said, when she was sitting on her bed.

  
The girl sighed, and got slowly on her feet, and headed for the bedroom door. “What’s up ?” she asked, in the same tone of voice.

 

Her father didn’t answer.

Maybe her voice wasn’t loud enough. Lucilla walked down the stairs, the slower she could. She knew what was coming. She was going in the living room, when her father would be sitting on a armchair, and she would have to sit on the floor (she wouldn’t be disappointed about it : she ALWAYS sat on the floor. Pillows were more enjoyable).

Then, he would have his chin on his hands, and would look at her for one minute. All for suspens.  
What was going next wasn’t a surprise, Andrea had been changing his mind every twenty-four hours for the past four weeks.

But still Lucilla allowed herself to hope.

 

She finally arrived before her father. No surprise, he was exactly as she imagined him : sitting on his favorite chair, and the rest. It was his intensive thinking position. As always, Lucilla grabbed one of the sofa’s pillows and sat down on the floor.

 

“What do you want from me ?” she asked. “I know what you’re going to tell.”

 

Andrea shooked his head, and had a little smile.

 “Why do you wanna leave, exactly ?”

She sighed. She had been explaining this to her father since days, and he didn’t understood a word. Or maybe he didn’t want to understand anything.

“I’ve already told you,” she replied. “This town’s uni doesn’t allow me to study what I want. I’m bored of your artistic stuff. That’s not what I am. That’s only you wanting me to become like you.”

Andrea nodded, and sat deeper in his armchair, like he was in a desperate situation.

“And this establishment doesn’t offer you any other choice ?” he asked. “I’ve seen the brochure. There is plenty of op…”

“Still not what I want !”

She was reduced to begging. This time was even worse than the others.

“You know what I want, I still don’t understand why you’re asking that to me again,” Lucilla said, exasperated. “I want to study history. The very old one.”

“So you think that dead bodies and skeletons are more interessant than the marble ones ?”

She said yes with her head.

“Exactly.”

Andrea’s and Lucilla’s eyes met.

“Go pack your stuff in the car. A new adventure begins today, Indiana Girl !”

 

 

###

 

As they get out of Andrea’s car, Lucilla looked worriedly at the building in front of them. It wasn’t as gloomy as she first expected : it was her dad’s choice, she had no word on it, so it would have been gloomy because it was Andrea’s choice. Period. But she seemed to be lucky, this time.  
Between her and Andrea, it took a while to unload the car, because Lucci’s suitcase was heavy, and there was no elevator in the building. Andrea  did not speak as they all passed through the messy stairs.  
Lucilla sighed again. Outside, there was still some gold sunset light, but inside, all was dark. Plus, the stairs looked like some Dutch house stairway.

 

“Dad,” she started. “Can you turn on the light ?”

“It’s taking all the magic of the place away !” he replied, with an outrageous voice.

“I told you… I don’t get anything of your artistic things.”

 

He turned on the light, anyway. Lucilla smiled. This was exactly as she imagined it : cinder-block walls, and old-wooden floor, it looked like an old rich person’s private mansion. The right place where her mom and dad could have lived. The floor cracked when she walked on it.

She expected something more modern. The whole building looked like a horror story place. Maybe Victor Frankenstein did his experiments here.  
Well… it wasn’t that false. Her father made his experiments there.  
The flat was just under the roof. Nothing really luxurious, but she didn’t expected to see a flat with three rooms, even when they were little.

 

“You didn’t tell me it was that tall !”

 

Andrea laughed.

 

“Every single time we - your mother and I -  decided to do something together, we get into some pretty deep shit," Andrea said, when they both enter in the main corridor. The flat was tall, for one person. Lucilla didn't understand where her father could have get all the money to pay it.

 

"Language, dad," Lucilla replied. Still, she was amused.

"What ? All is true. There was a time - before she started travelling all year - when I couldn't stand in front of your mother without starting a fight. You'll know that, one day. So, as I said, we get into…"

"Fine. I got it. Why is there three rooms ?"

"'Cause sometimes she wanted to be alone. And, one of them was my workshop."

Lucilla nodded.

 "I was wondering where you could have worked."

They walked deeper in the flat, and Andrea turned on the light, which made the place less gloomy.

"Let me show you. Put your things on the floor, go, we'll unpack later."

Her father guided her through the flat - not that big, finally - and they enter in a they in a  shabby but cozy room. Empty. The rest of the flat had the basic furniture, like kitchen, table, and even a sofa, plus an old TV. _Note-to-self : Bring the one of my ‘old room’,_ she thought. The TV did not seem to be able to launch a single DVD. And videocassettes didn’t exist anymore.

There was painting marks on the walls, some on the floor. Lucilla smiled. She loved the old sensation of mess that the room showed.

“I like this place,” she said. “I think I’ll sleep here.”

Andrea had a saddened smile, perhaps because of the memories the place gave him, but Lucilla thought it was because of her departure. Emotion. He left the room, and get back a few seconds later with her enormous suitcase.

“So, where do you want to put this ?”

Lucilla shrugged.

“I can unpack, dad.”

He didn’t seem to be ready to go. “Let me at least help you with the air mattress,” he said.

“No, really. I can do this. I’m fine.”

Because those sort of things must have an end. She made her bed by herself since her mother took her work seriously and began to travel all over the world, leaving her alone with her dad. Juliana and Andrea weren’t exactly on the best terms, those days. But it was fine for Lucci. The less she saw Juliana, the best it was. Of course, she loved her anyway. She wasn’t able to carry on with the eternal hassles that last the entire day.

“God, I’ll miss you,” Andrea said. “The house will be empty without your music I could hear everywhere.”

Lucilla had a little smile.

“Well, if you feel to lonely some days, you can join me. But not every days !” she added when she saw a shade of hope on her father’s face. “I’m going to have a life of my own, now.”

Andrea raised a finger.

“Don’t forget what I said to you. No alcohol. No drugs. No boys or girls in this flat.”

Lucilla sighed. “Dad, I’m on age…”

“It doesn’t mean you can do everything you want, girl !”

She laughed and hugged him.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be watching Harrison Ford’s muscles the day I’ll have a real TV and I’ll be fine.”

But she knew she wouldn’t be that good. With the all lot of her childhood friends less than 500 meters away, all good manners would be regularly forgotten.

  



	2. Reunion

She had to wait a few days before seeing the whole gang.   
Maybe they weren’t here after all - that’s what she started to imagine when she was worried - or maybe it was because she didn’t have any common class with them. She would have seen them every day otherwise. Lucilla was a bit disappointed for it, it was her main argument, at least in her head: she wouldn’t have told it to her father. Never. He wouldn’t have let her go in this university if he knew what her main motivation was.

But it wasn’t the only one, of course.   
The second main motivation was Harrison Ford, and third, her mother.   
Lucilla’s mother, Juliana, was an archeologist. When Lucilla was little, she always told her some stories about her researches, so that was why Lucilla wanted to go and study Archeology. It was art related, but she hasn’t seen Leo yet. He studied art too.   
Art was only a minor for her. But she had to study something that mixed history, archeology and art.   
That was how she saw one of them.  

 

This day was a Monday morning, the second one, and like all Mondays, she felt terrible. Her air mattress wasn’t that comfortable to allow her to sleep well, but she did with what she had. This class wasn’t a conference, so she found back the old high school tables and chairs.

She didn’t really like those classes, because she had to focus much more than she did otherwise. The teacher—some African man she didn’t remember the name—had started his class for ten minutes when something hit her neck.

“Hey!” Lucilla shouted.

She started to massage the space that hurtled, and heard someone giggling behind her. Lucilla turned back, and saw Leo, somewhere in her right side. On her table layer a piece of paper. “Open it,” Leo said with his mouth, not saying any sound. Lucilla nodded.

 _“Welcome in the adult world!”_ was written on the paper. She smiled and wrote something back. _“It tasted well before you launched this thing on my neck.”_ She thought about sending it, but remembered she had some questions. _“—Where does this teacher come from?”_

When the man turned back to write something on the board, Lucilla dropped the paper right on Leo’s face. She watched him with a vicious smile. “Vengeance,” she whispered.

The answer did not come late.

_“He’s Abyssinian. And weird, but great—in some point of view.”_

_“Why ‘in some point of view’ ?”  
“No spoilers!”_

_“So he’s as weird as you are.”_

This time, she didn’t get anything but some laughing behind her head.

 

###

 

“The lunch area is over there,” he said, when they were both walking in the long corridors.

All were full of people. Students. Teachers. Lucci couldn’t like that, but she said nothing. Since months—when Leo, and Sofia, and all the others started to leave their hometown— she lived her days alone with her father and it didn’t bother her at all. She had a few “friends”, back home, but it wasn’t the same. They were more like fake school friends, the people you hang out with because you have to. Showing she was alone wasn’t an option. “But you already know that, do you?”

Lucilla nodded.

“Well, you know me, that was the first thing I was looking for when I arrived.”

Leo sarted to laugh, once again.

“I know you. You can’t live without some food more than one afternoon.”

Lucilla gasped from indignation.

“Hey! I don’t!”

“You are! I know everything of you, girl,” Leo said.

“Don’t speak like my dad,” said Lucilla.

Leo nodded. “I’m not. I’m just—”

He couldn’t finish his sentence, because they both heard a running noise behind them. Lucci turned back, and saw the eyes shining from excitation, the black hairs and a big smile on Sofia’s face. It was the first time the girl saw each other from a long time, and Lucci heard Sofia giving a roar of delight, and yelled: “I knew it! I knew he’ll let you come! _I knew it, Lucci!_ ”

Lucilla could do nothing but smile, because Sofia was— as always— brutalizing Lucci’s head like she would have brutalized a cat’s head. Sofia always did that, she liked touching someone else’s hairs. Lucilla never knew why.

“Let’s find the others,” Sofia said. “D’you know where they are, Leo?”

He shrugged.

“Guess. Nicco would be in the library: I asked him to finish some pair work we had to do, ‘cause I have much more lessons than he has. Unfair. Zo… outside, ‘cause he flees the classrooms while he can. Vanessa with that Medici boy—”

“What d’you mean,” Lucilla said. “Vanessa has someone?”

Sofia nodded.

“You missed so much those last months, I’ll have to tell you everything. They started hanging out in the beginning of the year, but they were turning around each other since the holidays. Or more?”

She gave a questioning glance to Leo. “More!” he answered. “You’re blind, sometimes.”

“But I helped them,” Sofia said with a victory note in her voice. “Persuading Vanessa that she was more blind than me because I’m not blind at all!”

Then she took her phone, sending texts Lucci couldn’t watch. Something that Lucci would have been glad to do. Sometimes, Sofia’s ideas were… dangerous.

“What are you doing ?”   
“I’m just warning a few people that the maddest of all of us just arrived. Brace yourselves, Lucilla del Verrocchio is coming !”  
This time wasn’t that bad, and Lucilla allowed herself to laugh. They made their way along the corridor, chatting joyfully, and Lucci didn’t thought about anything else. She was just happy to be here, back in the old days.   
Things were just… good. The only difficulty they had was finding a free table, with enough places for all of them, because Nicco was supposed to join them. One was almost free. There was a girl, sitting near of the window, and she smiled to Sofia.   
“Hey, can we sit down ?” asked Sofia.   
The girl nodded.   
“Of course. Waiting for the others ?”  
Lucilla raised her eyebrows and look at Leo. “Who’s…”   
“Oh. Yes,” said Leo. “I believed you know each other.” He showed the girl. “This,” he continued, “is Lucrezia Donati. Lu’, say hello to Lucilla, will you ?”  
And so she did. Lucilla only smiled.   
“We already know each other, don’t we ?” asked Lucci.   
Lucrezia nodded. “I’ve seen you once or twice… when you came at Leo’s.”  
“Oh, yes, maybe,” said Leo. He dragged her and kissed her, then Nicco and Zo joined them. Nicco was looking curious, and Zo, as he always was. Bored, but watching over everything Leo was doing, to avoid any new explosion in the area. However, he gave Lucci a strange look, and one of his fancy smiles.  
He showed a chair next to him.  
“Well, sit down, everyone, I’m fucking starving !”  
  



	3. Angry S

The sky was darkening when she pushed the book down. It was a book for school, called _Ancient Egypt Treasures: A History_ , some fascinating and boring lecture Lucilla was forced to do. But she liked it, even if she persuaded herself on the contrary. A lonely evening seemed to be the best cure after a day with her foolish true friends. It was like she started to breathe again.   
From this very moment, she never had realized how much she missed Zo’s “fuck off”, and Leo’s demonstrations, and Nico’s blushes, and Sophia’s giggle noise. The day was just perfect, but tired her. She wasn’t used to it anymore.   
Sad reality of a newcomer.   
For once she had turned her phone and computer off, to try some new study method, and was lying on the living room’s couch. The flat looked really silent. That was what distracted her. Strange, but true.   
Lucilla gave up studying, when she saw her phone screen’s lightening. She just gets a millionth messages and unanswered calls from Sofia.   
And Sofia was getting upset.

 

WHAT’RE YOU DOING?   
...

CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DON’T ANSWER YOUR BEST FRIEND’S CALLS  
...

IMPOLITE GIRL

IS THAT HOW YOUR DAD RAISED YOU?

 

She replied:

 

Did your mum learned you how to harass people? ‘Cause you’re pretty good at it.

 

Lucilla didn’t get any texted answer, but her phone rang right after. “Enough with your sarcasm, Verrocchio,” said Sophia’s electronic voice.  
“Never!” replied Lucilla.   
“I was sure you’ll say that. Well, what’re you doing ?”  
“Reading.”

“IS READING MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR SOCIAL LIFE?” shouted Sophia. “Blimey, I can’t believe it, you didn’t change at all.”

For a moment, Lucilla said nothing. But she could hear some music rumour in her phone. “Where are you?”

“Don’t try to change subject. You. Us. Party. Now.”

Lucilla rolled her eyes. “This sounds like some picture I saw on the internet one day. In a friendlier way.”

“What was written on this pic’?”

“You. Me. Bed. Now,” Lucci answered.

This was the biggest mistake of her life. She didn’t know that their conversation wasn’t private. In fact, Sophia was outside of some club in the town, the others with her, and they could hear everything because Sophia had activated the sound.   
And didn’t tell Lucilla.

“Sounds pretty interesting,” said a male voice instead of Sofia.

“It’s NOT what you’re thinking!”

“Err, fuck, it should have been,” said a second voice.

“Shut up, Zo— you’re spoiling everything—”

“You shut up, Leo,” said Lucilla. “And Sophia, next time you call me while being at a party with those fools around, don’t…”

“Don’t what?” asked Sophia. “I did nothing. You did.”

“Nicco,” said Leo’s voice, away from the phone. “Remember this for us, it could be useful.”

“NO, DON’T!” Lucilla shouted. “I _hate_ you!”

“Yup, we love you too, Lucci,” Sofia said. “Even more when you’re _physically_ with us and not with us via phone call.”

Lucilla nodded, even if Sophia couldn’t see her.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m coming.”

All she could hear before the line clicked dead was a big whooping.

 

 

  



	4. Lack of memories

She didn’t remember how the night ended.

She had a few memories of it, including her phone conversation with the gang, Sofia and her and Lucrezia coming back to her flat because it was the nearest of the club, and the guys wanted — fortunately — to end the night alone. Between men, which meant drugs, more alcohol, and obscene discussions. Lucilla knew them enough to imagine what happened in Leo’s flat.

But she couldn’t even remember why she, Sofia and Lucrezia were lying on the sofa. She hardly get up, and felt like there was a hurricane howling in her head.   
She did exactly what her father didn’t want her to do. Drink shots, bring her friends to the flat, and go into parties in the end of the week. Instead of feeling guilty, she smiled. Avoiding something like this night was impossible when she was with the others.   
Lucilla walked slowly in the living room, going back to her room to take some new clothes, but she forgot the noise of the floor.

_Shraaak, Shraak._

It wasn’t silent at all and she couldn’t make a footstep without noise. She rolled her eyes. One of the other girls just started to move.

“Stop this fucking noise,” said the tired voice of Sofia. “Did you put some music on ? It sounds like drums.”

Lucilla nodded.

“I didn’t put anything on. It’s the floor.”

“Well, I got a headache. Make it stop… please !”

Now she wanted to laugh, but managed to stay silent.

“I’ll try to,” answered Lucilla, whispering. “Don’t wake Lucrezia up. Why is she still here anyway ?”

“Dunno… shit, my head ! Don’t make me speak !”

“Okay.”

Luck was with her. Or the size of the flat was the perfect one, because she just had to open her room’s door without walking on the floor anymore.   
Sundays morning were great.

 

###

 

“Why didn’t you go back in the guy’s flat ?”

It was the question she wanted to ask Lucrezia since she woke up, and she couldn’t wait anymore. Sofia was taking a shower. The perfect moment to talk without being interrupted by the last girl.

“Don’t know,” Lucrezia said. “It’s like I wanted to stay with Leo but he insisted for me to take some rest.”

Lucilla nodded.

“Without saying anything else ?”

“Nope. You didn’t stop being paranoid, did you ?”

Then Sofia get out of the bathroom, and Lucci became quiet. Sofia wasn’t the perfect model of privacy.

“Girls !” she shouted. Apparently her headache was gone.

“What ?” Lucilla asked.

“I just remembered something from last night !”

Lucrezia smiled. “Tell us.”  
“I had a dream about a dog fighting a goat fighting a pear? Is that weird- no, does that mean anything?”  
“I’m not gonna tell you what that means,” answered Lucci with a vicious smile.   
“LUCCI!”

She didn’t answer but laughed. “Your dreams are always weird, and more than any normal dreams because it comes from you,” she said. Intercepting Sofia’s doubtful look, Lucilla continued. “Look, you’re a Da Vinci. Your dreams are, by nature, weird.”

“And you’re an unfair Verrocchio! I’m covering you since years and you’re saying something like that,” Sofia replied. “That wasn’t nice.”

“Truth is the only thing that hurts your ego,” said both Lucilla and Lucrezia.

Then, all of the girls laughed so hard that their belly hurt.

 

###

 

She sat in the empty train car, absently gazing at the little human bugs all loitering about on the platform, all waiting to get to places hopefully better than the ones they left.  
What was worse than watching one of Harrison Ford’s characters dying?   
Monday mornings.   
Lucilla wasn’t ready to go back to class after this weekend. Life just went back to normal. Partying, having friends with her, all of that was cool. But she didn’t get Leo’s smiles full of heard in, and Nico's strange looks.   
Did she do something wrong?   
She couldn’t say yes or no.

Speaking of Nico, he was coming in the train, like every mornings. They took this habit: finding each other in the train before getting in university because they were the most sensed one of the whole group, and needed to had some “serious” conversations before living with those mad fellows.

“Hey,” she said when he sat on her side.

Nico gave her one of his smiles.

Lucilla raised her eyebrow.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Nico nodded. “Of course you can. I’m here for you, don’t forget it.”

“Why did everyone looked at me like I was a stranger when we ate at Sunday?”

She saw Nico blushing, and started to worry, again. Lucrezia was right. Her paranoia didn’t left her.

“Well… you don’t remember anything?”

Lucilla nodded. “No. Is there something I should remember? I know Leo proposed everyone to sing something, because he wanted to. I also know that you guys didn’t want to go in my flat, but I don’t remember more. Maybe someth…”

“Are you sure you want to…”

“Yes! It’s my business!”

Nico took a great breath.

“You stayed with Zo all the night, but before you couldn’t handle each other. That was strange.”

“WHAT?”

“I’m not creating anything…”

“What did we do?”

“Ugh, just talking and staying near each other.”

“Nothing insane?”

“Nothing insane. I promise you. You two guys just talked and that was already a feat.”

Lucilla sighed of relief.

“There was too much smoke in the air.”


	5. The Da Vinci Boom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now NaNoWriMo is over, my production of November can finally be posted. ALL the following chapters were written during NaNo !

“Remember that time you did a thing and something happened”, she said, speaking angrily in her phone’s micro. “That was pretty cool, right ?”

“The things I do are  _ always _ cool, Lucci”, answered Sophia’s mechanical voice. 

“Maybe, but not this time. How could you manage to burn your own house ?”

Alone in her apartment, in the tiny living-room who was also served as kitchen and entrance, Lucilla began to pace up and down. Her friend, Sophia, could sometimes be really unbearable, like today. Lucci couldn’t simply understand why this girl who was her two-years-youngest could be smart and really idiot at both, and she couldn’t handle her damned experiences. The girl had a real laboratory in her apartment, and spend hours in it, skipping classes she didn’t like, which Lucilla had to attempt and give her notes to Sophia in exchange. 

“I… was just testing the effects of nit…"

"Don’t tell more, I don’t want to know. And I don’t want you in my house. I’ve done too much for you, OK ?”

Lucilla heard a little sight on the other side of the phone, and sat on her sofa. She was trying to imagine Sophia, blocked out, sitting in the street with no place to go. She smiled, it was a sweet revenge after all Sophia made her been through. 

“OK, Lucci…”

Lucilla raised her eyebrows. Sometimes, when she talked on the phone with Sophia, it was like the both girls was in the same room. She almost could see Sophia’s annoyed face. 

“And if I apologize ?” begged Sophia with a tiny voice.

“You don’t have to apologize to me, Soph’”, answered Lucci. “What’s your roommate name ? Forgot it.”

“You’re not better than I am, Lucci. Your memory sucks.”

“Thanks… may I have an answer to my question ?”

“Her name is Cat.”

Then, the voice of Sophia moved off. “Sorry, Cat”.

“You silly kid…”

“You idiot. Be correct, OK ? If you’ve got any…”  The sound of the phone sputtered. “Sophia, can you hear me ?”

No answer.

“SOPHIA !!” shouted Lucilla angrily. “You damned idiot !” Maybe the girl was doing something stupid… again… but Lucilla didn’t care about it. She couldn’t do something worse than burning her house, right ?    
Packing her college things, she hanged up the call, and quit her apartment. 

“Mutual respects sends his regards”, she said softly, starting to walk on the street. 

  
  


###

 

Fortunately - maybe the weather thought that she didn't need a further amendment - it wasn't raining at all when she left the house. Lucilla didn't know why she was expecting something like that but it seemed obvious to her. Plus, the sky was dark enough for her to imagine another calamity. 

And she was carrying a bag of dirty laundry, including a shirt that Sophia forgot one night when they were chatting together so long that the train and bus service was over. By walking, she remembered all those days passed with Sophia since they were little girls, and made use of the opportunity to pass on her anger on Sophia by talking alone like a real Mrs Figg in the real world. 

"OH SOPHIA, I AM GOING TO  _ KILL _ YOU !"

Yet she arrived at the public laundry, and closed the door angrily. There was a loud  _ crack _ when the door was finally shot, Lucilla turned back in the case if she just broke the glass. She was a bit lucky. Nothing like that rubbish happened.  _ I’m cursed _ , she thought.  _ Cursed. _

“What did she do ?”

She jumped and turn back, leaving one dirty sock on the ground. Like the naive girl she was, she thought she was alone in the room. It seems to be the contrary, she sighed. Seven billion of people on earth and she was forced to be stuck in this damned room with one of the bad boys of her college. She couldn’t remember his name, but remembered well the day when he made fun of her appearance, on a swimming competition day. 

“You don’t know”, she asked. “What are you doing here anyway ?”

“My laundry. Just like you do.”

He went silent for a few seconds and laughed.

“D’you really thought that I’m wearing the same jean every day and every year, and the same shirt, all of that rubbish stuff that people say about me ?”

She blushed with shame. It was exactly the picture she had of him, listening the gossips too much before making her own opinions. It was so easy to agree with other people than to meet the objects of the gossips. 

“Yeah… I might have…”

“So you’re as silly as the others. Whisper, whisper, whisper… all the time.”

“Maybe.”

She nodded and tried to ignore him, focused only on the noise of the two washers. 

“There are gossips on you too”, he said.

“What are they ?”

“I won’t tell you. Better for you to have the surprise when the semester will begin again.”

“Kid…”

“Idiot popular girl !” 

The same conversation she had with Sophia… Memories invaded Lucci’s head and she suddenly regretted her argue with her friend. By thinking to Sophia she felt a little less furious against her and herself. And it was a bit different with him than a few minutes ago. They laughed together, this conversation broke the glass between them. They talked while Lucci was putting her laundry in the washer, and she nearly felt unstressed, maybe one day she could let down her popular girl mask. Not with him, but with the other people of her class, and talking with them just like she talked with Sophia. The atmosphere was relaxed now.

“So, you didn’t answer my question”, he said. 

She frowned, surprised.

“Which question ?”

“My first one.”

“About Sophia ?”

“You’re more clever than I thought…” 

No, obviously he didn’t change at all. The washer whistle it’s alarm, signal that all was over - even the drying process. Lucci opened the door and started to full her bag. When she was over, she turned to him.

“Well, I guess we see each other in class,” she said.

“Impressive. Normally, people of your kind don’t say goodbye.”

“I’m not like all the “people of my kind”. What’s this kind, for you ?”

He sat on one of the washers.

“Popular. Smart. Competitive. Whisperers. Little annoying girls who look like Barbie dolls.”

“Hey !” shouted Lucci, unworthy. “I’m NOT a Barbie doll !”

“Yes, you are.”

“I’m NOT. Never.”

“Well, you’re more clever than the others… but you’ve got makeup on your face. “

“What’s your problem with make up ?”

“It make you look like some bitches of Hollywood. You know, those who use plastic surgery and don’t look like human beings…” 

She crossed her arms.

“Maybe some of the girls of college have their mentality and mental illness, but I’m not like them. I just want to melt away into the masses to live quietly and be invisible. That’s what I have to do. My father always t… Sorry, I shouldn’t speak about this.”

He shrugged, and walked to the door. Soon Lucci would be alone again. But she didn’t feel happy like she should.    
She felt  _ sad _ . 

“Keep your secrets then,” he said. 

“That’s something I have to keep hidden. So don’t talk, OK ?”

“How can I talk about something I don’t know ?”

“Dunno… you could find it and tell everyone.”

“So that’s something important.”

“I’ve said too much…”

“I’m good at keeping secrets, don’t worry. Even for people of your kind.”

“Thanks.”

He nodded and went out, Lucci started to followed him, but stopped.  _ Don’t go forward, he is NOT your friend. _

“What did Sophia do ?” he asked.

She sighed. 

“Leo is expelled of uni for two weeks,” she said. “There was some boom, an experience turned bad, and Sophia’s flat is inhabitable”

“So she asked you to house her ?”

She nodded.

“Yeah.”

“And you don’t want to.”

She nodded again.

“I want to keep my flat in a good state.”

 


	6. Nicco's biggest mistake

The smell of tea was rising from her thermos as she opened it, and Lucilla  found her attentiveness ebbing  as though her brain was slipping in and out of tune. Now she couldn’t focus anymore on the text she was reading, and sighed. This wasn’t her most productive evening.  
As if she was looking for an excuse to comfort her guilty brain, Lucilla looked at the big clock she could barely see from her table. The late hour she saw sort of comfort her —and discouraged her. She had stay here for almost three hours and barely finished her work.  
She stood up, packing her stuff in after drinking some homemade tea she made the evening before.  
She heard a loud noise and sighed again.

“That’s the bell,” said a voice on her right. Lucilla shooked her head yes.  
“I know,” she said.  
She gave a tired smirk to Nico, who was working next to her.  
“Let’s get out of here, you need fresh her,” he said. Maybe her face looked horrible.

“LIBRARY’S CLOSING !” shouted someone’s mechanical voice in a microphone.  
“Right, we know,” Nico said.  
“She can’t hear you,” pointed Lucilla.

Nico shrugged.

“It’s a habit,” he said. “Answering to people that can’t hear me because I hate when they’re speaking through microphones and speak well to load when there’s no need to it.”  
They joined the queue lining up to the stairs, it was the day when the library was full of people that needed to complete last-hour work they had to give away on the following morning.  
The library had six levels above ground and two levels below. The sub-levels, where the stacks were, were shaped strangely and accessible only from certain staircases; it almost felt like the stacks were tucked under other buildings around campus. So the entries to the staircases were always full in all hours of the day. People had to think on taking strategic tables and ways to be able to go out of the library in time.  
Nico had showed her everything of those techniques perfectly elaborated by Leo, and it helped her to save at least twenty minutes every times she went working in the library. But still, working with Nico had the advantage to be quicker than she usually was. He didn’t hesitate to rush people to reach the best place who would enable them to get out.  
They were in the beginning of the queue, but someone was standing before them, and Lucillla studied the man by watching his back.  
“Is that Broody ?” she asked.  
“Who ?”  
Lucilla laughed.  
“That’s one of Sophia’s nicknames, guess who.”  
Nico smirked.  
“Broody… means crestfallen, morose, black-like, insensitive. Low psychotic voice, I assume ?”  
Lucilla nodded.  
“Yes,” she said. “So ? Answer ?”  
“Girolamo Riario,” muttered Nico, so the man didn’t hear them chatting.

“Exactly.”  
“Was there other options ?”  
“Don’t remember, but I reckon this is the best idea Sophia ever had.”  
Nico shook his head yes. “I don’t usually love Sophia’s nicknames but this one is good. And, if you’re still looking for an answer to your first question, it’s him.”  
“Whoa,” Lucilla said. “He had quite changed since high school.”

“You still remember his long and grease hair and ugly black clothes ?”  
“Of course I remember. ‘Twas the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen before.”

This time, Nico couldn’t contain a laugh, and Riario turned around. Nico closed his mouth, tempted a smirk, Riario raised an eyebrow, but turned around again.  
“This could have been worse,” Lucilla whispered when they finally were separated.  
Nico nodded.

“He’s going to kill me.”

 

###

 

It was almost dark outside when they came out of the library’s building, and Lucci shuddered. She wasn’t cold, but seeing this place almost empty was kind of gloomy. Normally, the hall was full of people, moving in groups, giggling, and there was light, and…  
Nico was looking at her and Lucilla smirked.  
“Blimey, are you afraid of something or what ?” Nico asked.  
Lucilla felt a small twinge of guilt, her face was too expressive, and she thought about the theatre classes her father wanted her to do when she was little. Well, she went there and it obviously hadn’t any positive effect on her.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” she said. “I’m too old to be afraid of the dark !”

Nico laughed and she felt immediately better. Perhaps Riario’s strange look was what disturbed her. “But Sophia’s right,” she added. “He deserves his nickname. I always feel queasy when he’s around.”

He glanced at her, with a worried look, and Lucilla didn’t avoid it.

“What ?” she asked.

“I think the same thing and…”  
“And ?”

“That thing I talk about at lunch, remember ?”

“One of your mistakes ?”

Nico nodded.

“Well, I gave him his English partner phone number, and I think he can’t stand her, so, I assume it would be a bad ending story,” he said.

“It’s a normal thing to do, right ? He’s not a real asshole. Some are worse.”

It was Nico’s turn to smirk.  
“I hope so,” he said. “Can you help me with this if it turns bad ?”  
The sky above them became steadily darker, slowly, cars went there to pick students away.

“Of course I will.”

 

###

 

There was a few fallen leaves left on the floor when Lucilla reached the bus stop. Sitting on a bank, she took her headphones, trying to relax.  
She really, really, really hated being alone in the streets in fall autumn. It was rainy, dark, cold, and humid.  
The street’s light wasn’t yet on. It wasn’t dark enough. Or maybe it was because of the hour that wasn’t that late… Lucci didn’t know. She only knew that she was tired.  
The bus wasn’t coming until ten minutes, and Lucilla sighed when she saw it. Nico wasn’t even here to be with her, or anyone. Those minutes were meant to be long.  
Positive point, the other side of the street was interesting to watch. She could almost describe in her head with real words how the fallen leaves looked like — sponged, with dark corners sometimes — and how everything changed when they finally turned on the street’s lights.  
Lucilla smirked. That was something she was waiting for. Just something to look at, and that could have occupied her brain. She stayed like this, watching the street’s lights, during a few seconds, before hearing her phone’s ringing.  
Her dad had sent a message - no, he did just like Sophia. There were five texts that were waiting for her to read them.

 

_Hi, sweetie. Have some good news, call me when you can._  
_\- Dad._


End file.
